The 23 MPs suspected of participating in the "travel scam" whose identities the Scorpions recently disclosed to Parliament are by no means the only ones implicated. Bigger names may follow. In all, six agencies are alleged to have participated. The 23 names submitted to Parliament so far reportedly relate to investigations into only two of the agencies. Here are the 23 under scrutiny.
The African National Congress has taken all six wards and emerged as the dominant party on the proportional representation ballot in this week’s by-elections for the troubled Mamusa Town Council, which covers the semi-rural town of Schweizer-Reinecke in the North West province. The council has a bank balance of R115 000, debtors amount to R27-million and creditors R3,6-million.
Delegates attending the recent African National Congress Youth League congress sang "<i>Asifunye-i-agenda yama capital</i> [We don’t want a capitalist agenda]". It was not clear whether the message was directed at South Africa’s economic path or the corporatist bent of the league’s leaders, but strained relations between ANC youth and young leftists are raising questions about the tripartite alliance.
Public service investigators are probing corruption allegations against struggle hero Marion Sparg, CEO in National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka’s office. The National Prosecuting Authority this week confirmed that Sparg, who is well known for her past role in Umkhonto weSizwe, is being probed by the Public Service Commission for alleged tender misconduct.
Zimbabwe’s trust in President Robert Mugabe has risen to 46%, a survey released on Thursday shows, but it gives most of the credit for the aging leader’s increased popularity to state propaganda and the fear of intimidation. The Afrobarometer survey shows that trust in Mugabe has more than doubled from the 20% it recorded when it was last conducted, in 1999.
South Africa’s ”Bonnie and Clyde” prisoner Charmaine Phillips was released on parole from the Kroonstad Prison in the early hours of Friday. Correctional Services spokesperson Johan Massyn said Phillips left the prison shortly after midnight.
The company behind the Dallas Morning News agreed on Monday to hand back -million to advertisers after admitting circulation figures for the daily and Sunday editions had been inflated. In ordinary circumstances the incident would hardly have raised a flicker of interest outside Texas.
A baby born with a 10cm-long ”tail” to an impoverished provincial family has brought locals flocking to make offerings and pray to her for luck, police in the south-eastern Cambodian province of Svay Rieng said on Friday. The mother, Sok Mao said that before the as-yet-unnamed baby’s birth she dreamed an old man had come to her with a magic monkey that would bring her luck.
Iraq’s prime minister, Ayad Allawi, on Thursday night issued a ”final call” for the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to disarm his fighters and leave Najaf’s mosque — or face the prospect of a devastating final assault. Using blunt language, Allawi said the radical Shia cleric had to accept the government’s demands personally and in writing to end the fighting in Najaf.
Najaf could face ‘bloodbath’ in hours
Dust storms emanating from the Sahara have increased tenfold in 50 years, contributing to climate change as well as threatening human health and destroying coral reefs thousands of kilometres away. And one major cause is the replacement of the camel by four-wheel drive vehicles as the desert vehicle of choice.